A Little Grand
by PrimeWoman
Summary: A H/R fic which I'm embarrassed to say was inspired by the Royal Wedding. Rather fluffy and hopelessly hopeful. I hope you can bare to enjoy it.


I don't own Spooks.

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><p>Harry sat down in his office, and reached almost without thought for his whisky. It was the end of an exhausting three days, although really the preparations had been going on for months now. Harry partly suspected the only reason he was allowed to continue to work with the inquiry going on was because they couldn't afford to draft in a temporary head with something as important as a Royal Wedding to plan. The past week had been one of the most tiring his team had ever had to work. Dmitri had been out with Scotland Yard and the MET scouring what felt like every inch of London, whilst Calum and Tariq ran face recognition over seemingly the entire population of the capital and every tourist. Erin was living up to her reputation and the numerous nicknames Harry had heard batted around before she arrived; she was co-ordinating Scotland Yard, the MET, Special force, 6 and 5; with a fearsome determination. Meanwhile Harry had been left to field calls from various politicians and to 'liaise' with various high ranking members of the royal guard. He'd managed to keep his temper throughout most of it; but there had been one memorable outburst when Towers rang Harry in a panic, asking whether he should wear a mourning suit or not. Ruth had managed to calm him down (and advise Towers). Ruth, who had been working harder than any of them, analysing and re-anaylsing all the extra chatter from GCHQ, investigating everything from a full scale threats to tweets GCHQ had deemed 'worrying', much to her distaste, Ruth who Harry realised now, hadn't been home since Wednesday afternoon and now it was…<p>

'Bugger' Harry murmured as realised the day. He looked for his phone to call her, but looking up realised her light was still on; despite the fact he expressly ordered her home two hours ago. He must have walked straight past her on his way back to his office. He stepped out on to the Grid and walked over to her.

"Ruth, I'm so sorry I-" He stopped abruptly when he realised she was crying. She had her head phones on and hadn't noticed his presence. She was sat crying, softly and gently but crying all the same. Harry paused for a second, unsure whether to go back to his office and pretend he hadn't seen or to do something. Things between the two of them had been more strained than usual. He knew he should really leave her alone, give her so privacy but he couldn't bare to see her crying.

He stood in front of her and touched her hand lightly with his. "Ruth?" She jumped at his touch and immediately pulled her head phones off. She was blushing furiously and Harry couldn't help but love her. "Ruth, what's…are you alright?"

"Oh god, no, I'm, um. I'm fine Harry. Sorry." She looked away from him and hurridley wiped her eyes.

"Ruth, what's wrong? And don't say nothing because you're sat here crying." Ruth seemed to grow redder with every word and was adamantly not meeting Harry's eyes.

"I was just… Oh for gods sake" She swung the monitor of her computer around so that Harry could see. Harry watched as William tried to push the ring on to Kate's finger. He looked up at Ruth, slightly confused.

"You were watching the wedding?"

"Well, I don't know if you noticed Harry… but I've been sat here for the past god knows how many hours, doing background checks on every person in London who didn't stand up during the national anthem. I didn't actually get a chance to see them."

"And, you're crying because?"

"You're such a man Harry. It's a wedding. A beautiful wedding. And I remember watching Diana's," At the mention of her name, Ruth looked a little more solemn and Harry went quiet. They both know why, but they let it pass. "It's just, beautiful, that's all." She looked defiantly up at him now as though daring him to say otherwise.

"No, you're right. Amongst trying to make sure no one shot our current or future monarch, I almost forgot it was all because of a wedding. And wedding are, they can be beautiful things…" He trailed off, realising the significance of what he was saying to her. He wished sometimes they could just have a conversation, one without all of this subtext and tension. Ruth opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but seemed to think better of it. Harry stared at her, wondering what she had wanted to say.

"Did you want anything Harry?" He snapped out of his momentary captivation.

"I, um, yes. I did. It's your birthday." Ruth looked surprised. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Oh Harry, it's just a birthday. And with all this" She gestured to the screen, "there were more important things…"

"I'm sorry I forgot. If I'd remembered I would have…" He doesn't know how to complete the sentence. What would he have done? Ruth's hand reached and touched his own for a second.

"It's fine, Harry. Honestly. I wouldn't expect you to. I didn't want a fuss. But thank you, for remembering at all." She smiled and turned to face the screen again.

"Can I watch with you?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. But she just nodded and removed the head phones so they could both hear the cheers from the crowd and the inane commentary. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. Mostly they watched in silence, just enjoying each others presence. Harry was really watching her, he watched as she smiled at the crowds. He watched her eyes fill up when they came out on to the balcony. He stared at her beautiful face illuminated only by the screen in the darkness of the Grid. She was crying again.

"It's not that it's a royal wedding." She said in to the silence, and Harry pretended he was watching the footage too. "I know it's sacrilege in this job, but really, I'm not a fan… of the idea of the Monarchy, you know? In this day and age." Harry smiled as she almost whispered the words, conspiratorially. "But, it's a wedding and they do seem so in love." She looked up at Harry through her teary eyes, as though seeking his permission to be emotional. He nodded at her. "They do." was all he could manage.

She watched as the happy couple kissed. Almost unconsciously Harry moved closer to her. When she turned around to speak, his face was nearly too close to hers. He knew he shouldn't. He knew there was too much between them. They hadn't even spoken about Albany, and with coping about Lucas, the new team members, the inquiry – everything was too much. But watching her gentle face express so much emotion at such a simple thing as a kiss, Harry just wanted to be near her.

She looked down when she realised how close her was, and swallowed before speaking. "It's going to be hard for them. Being married. With all the attention, I mean." She was stammering and blushing and she reminded him of the shy Ruth who had first walked on to the Grid. Brilliant and a little quirky but still so unsure of herself.

"Marriage is always hard." She looked up at him as though remembering he's done it all before. He talked slowly and delibarelty and held her gaze. "Which is why it should only happen between two people who trust each other, who understand each other without having to talk. Two people who can… forgive each other. Two people who love each other completely" Ruth stood up sharply, she had the same scared look she always had in her eyes at times like this. She was about to say something, something to break the moment but Harry stood up too and took both her hands in his. "But both people have to want it. And both people have to be ready. And they should probably be able to remember each other's birthdays." She laughed slightly and was still smiling when she tried to speak "Harry, I"

"Ruth. I'm not asking… I'm not trying to. I just." Sod it, he thought to himself. He lent forward and kissed her, his hands were on her face, wiping away her tears. He stopped, but his hands were still holding her face close to his.

"Happy Birthday, Ruth." She sighed and went to speak again but he shook his head. She bit her lip and watched as he walked back in to his office, sure he had made a terrible mistake but so thankful that he had held her for even a moment, he didn't really care. He finished off his reports, trying not to look out of his office window. He wasn't sure if she'd be angry or upset but either way he'd invaded her space enough as it was for once day.

"Harry", she walked in to his office, taking him somewhat by surprise. "I didn't thank you… for um. For remembering and um, for wishing me a happy birthday." He was about to protest that he didn't need her thanks, he was about to apologise but before he could she was leaning down and kissing him with determination. Before he even really had chance to kiss her back she had pulled away, blushing and smiling. "Thank you Harry." She turned to go, looking sheepish but stopped just before she reached the door. "I think, um, I think that Westminster's beautiful. But it's a little grand." Harry looked at her, bemused but she carried on. "Personally, I'd um, want something a little smaller…" She bit her lip and Harry caught on.

"I'll… I'll bare that in mind..." They held each other's gaze for a long moment, everything passing between them. It was almost too much and Harry knew if he didn't say something, he'd kiss her again. "Good night Ruth. Happy Birthday."

She had tears in her eyes again, but not ones that worried him. "Goodnight Harry." She whispered. He watched her as she left and went to switch off her monitor. Harry smiled to himself. She hadn't been saying yes, she had said don't give up on me yet. And he didn't intend to. He finished tidying away the last of his reports and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a note for himself for the next day.

"_Ask Tariq to teach you how to put reminders on your phone. _

_29__th__ April. _

_Every year."_

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><p>I hope you can forgive me. This is really very fluffy for me and I'm slightly ashamed to have become so caught up in the frenzy. But I wanted to honour Ruth's birthday and be a bit hopeful about the two of them for once. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading.<p> 


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